Polyphonic recording with a monophonic synthesizer PPG emerged in 1002 (1976) on an 8-track mixes on an ancient tape-echo reverb unit circa 1987
about 4 voices which were recorded successively improvised

The German made PPG (Palm Products GmbH) Wave 2 series of synthesizers are incredibly great sounding analog/digital hybrid vintage synths. They use digital samples of wavetables and feature analog VCA envelope and VCF (filter) sections for a classic and warm sound. The Wave 2.2 has oscillators that can generate over 2,000 different single-cycle 8-bit digital waveforms! Covered by knobs, the Wave still looks analog and this comprises the “Analog Control Panel”. More complex and new-wave editing of the wavetables and samples is covered by the “Digital Control Panel” where there are several key-pad buttons and an LCD screen. Another familiar treat to analog junkies is the inclusion of an 8-track sequencer which features automation of pitch, loudness, filter cutoff, waveforms and more. A cool feature – its onboard sequencer will also record any filtering and wave changes, in real-time!

The more commonly encountered Wave 2.3 (pictured) followed the 2.2 and had enhanced sample-playback capabilities. The sampler was pretty full-featured for its time and included upgraded 12-bit digital waveforms, Fourier analysis and linear playback of samples. The 2.3 model also featured 8-parts multitimbrality and MIDI implementation. The PPG Waves are know to create excellent pads, brass and bass sounds.

all sounds: PPG wave 2.2 synthesizer + Waveterm A
using some factory samples from the original Waveterm A sample library.
recording: multi-tracking without midi
fx: a bit reverb and delay

The PPG Waveterm A – or just PPG Waveterm – was PPG’s first entry into a full studio solution.

The PPG Waveterm A does NOT produce any sound itself meaning you will need a PPG Component like the PPG Wave 2.2, PPG Wave 2.3 or PPG EVU if you want to hear anything you do on it.

The PPG Waveterm made PPG owners able to produce their own wavetables and to save their own programs to floppy disk instead of tape using the Cassette interface.
It also made PPG owners able to create songs and to – most importantly to most – sample something and play it back using the PPG Wave 2.2.

The PPG Waveterm is based on an old german computer called Eltec Eurocom II based on the Motorola 6809 processor, and can be set up to run the ‘ordinary’ Eurocom II software (Flex 9).
You can also hook up a keyboard and a printer to it to have a ‘fully featured’ home computer – a very expensive one though.

The PPG Waveterm was not cheap – but it was a giant leap in music technology, and the quality of the samples you could produce using the PPG Waveterm was astonishing back then in all its 8 bit glory.

Vintage synthesizer demo of the PPG Waveterm. The PPG Waveterm A – or just PPG Waveterm – was PPG’s first entry into a full studio solution. The PPG Waveterm A does NOT produce any sound itself meaning you will need a PPG Component like the PPG Wave 2.2, PPG Wave 2.3 or PPG EVU if you want to hear anything you do on it. The PPG Waveterm made PPG owners able to produce their own wavetables and to save their own programs to floppy disk instead of tape using the Cassette interface. It also made PPG owners able to create songs and to – most importantly to most – sample something and play it back using the PPG Wave 2.2. The PPG Waveterm is based on an old german computer called Eltec Eurocom II based on the Motorola 6809 processor, and can be set up to run the ‘ordinary’ Eurocom II software (Flex 9). You can also hook up a keyboard and a printer to it to have a ‘fully featured’ home computer – a very expensive one though. The PPG Waveterm was not cheap – but it was a giant leap in music technology, and the quality of the samples you could produce using the PPG Waveterm was astonishing back then in all its 8 bit glory.
all 8 bit samples are from the original PPG Waveterm A sample library (1982) played over the PPG wave 2.2 synth.
no PPG wave 2.2 sounds used!

The Waveterm A is the heart of the legendary PPG system and based on an old german computer called Eltec Eurocom II with Motorola 6809 processor.